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Thursday, March 2, 2017

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.' I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water."

And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."

- John 1:29-34

In Monday's reading, we read the testimony of John the Baptist, when the Jews sent priests and
Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed and did
not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." And they asked him,
"What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the
Prophet?" And he answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" He said: I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness "Make straight the way of the Lord,"' as the prophet Isaiah said." Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him,
saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah,
nor the Prophet?" John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water,
but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who,
coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not
worthy to loose." These things were done in Bethabara beyond the
Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I
said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was
before me.' I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to
Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water." That John the Baptist declares Jesus the Lamb of God recalls Isaiah's "Servant of God," says my study bible. In Isaiah the Servant dies for the transgressions of His people (Isaiah 53:4-12). Christ is the true Pascal (Passover) Lamb. He offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19). St. Chrysostom comments that Jesus came to John the Baptist this second time in order for John to make this declaration, and so stop anyone from thinking that Jesus needed baptism to wash away His sins.

And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven
like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who
sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit
descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy
Spirit.' And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." My study bible says that the Spirit descending and remained upon Him was a sign that Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity. Christ did not receive the Holy Spirit at His Baptist. Instead, this vision which John saw reveals the truth that the Holy Spirit has always rested upon Christ.

So much of the Gospels concern question of identity. The authorities from Jerusalem always seem to ask Jesus, "Who are You?" They come from Jerusalem (in Monday's reading) to ask John the Baptist the same question. The "worldly" authorities of the faith continually demand signs of proof of identities for these figures of the Gospels. But in today's reading, we're given another sign of authority and identity. John the Baptist testifies, "I did not know Him, but He who
sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit
descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy
Spirit.'" This is a different kind of identifying, a way of clarifying who someone truly is. The Holy Spirit makes the identity clear, descending and resting upon Jesus. This evocative of King David. In 1 Samuel 16:1-12, the Prophet Samuel is called by God to find the new king who will replace Saul as king of Israel. After meeting all the sons of Jesse, Samuel had still not found the one. But there was the youngest, who was tending sheep. Jesse sent for David, and the text tells us, "Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!" The anointing of David is an anointing of oil blessed by the Spirit. Christ's anointing comes with the descent of the Spirit and directly remaining upon Him, a kind of choosing and declaring exactly who He is. Just as Samuel is told whom he must anoint, so John the Baptist, the last and greatest of Old Testament prophets, is told and led to the revelation of Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah (meaning "Anointed One"). All is in defiance of worldly expectation, just as with King David. In the story of the choosing of David as king, the Lord says to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." Over and over, the work of the holy throughout Scripture tells us the same: man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. And this is the question that is posed before us, over and over again. How do we know what is holy? How can we see as God sees, or what God wants us to see? This is the real question, and John's Gospel is meant to help us answer that question. We should also note that this is the second day given in John's Gospel, which corresponds to the second day of Creation in Genesis. John the Baptist declares that Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit, which is greater than John's own baptism with water for repentance, performed with water on earth. It parallels the separation of water above from the water below on the second day in Genesis 1:6-8. Again, we are asked, how do we know what is holy? Christ Himself is here to answer. And John the Baptist gives his testimony.

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